Mr Fluffy
by Psy t r a n c e
Summary: Girls and their ridiculous obsessions with things they find cute...what's a poor guy like Ichigo to do when Rukia loses her teddy? IchixRuki
1. Huggles

"Ichigo, what is this?' Ichigo looked expectantly up from his comic book. Rukia stood before, one hand on her hip, the other holding up a dangling cream coloured teddy bear.

The colour drained from Ichigo's face, where had she found _that_?

"Er" he said, going slightly pink. "Well?" Rukia looked on unblinking.

"It's er, a teddy bear." Rukia held it up with two hands, gazing at it. "I see, and what is its purpose?"

Closing the comic, Ichigo stood up. "Well, you hug it, sort of." Clearly confused, Rukia pressed it to her quickly before pulling it away. "What was the point of that?" she asked raising one eyebrow. "Well, I dunno" Ichigo snatched it back, grumbling "they're usually for little children to hug 'cause they like small, soft animals."

"So why do you still have it?" Rukia asked, a small smirk creeping out of the corners of her mouth.

Ichigo flushed red.

"Why not! It's mine anyway, I can decide what I want to do with it!" he placed it on his bookshelf, scowling. He glanced at Rukia's expression on her face. "Grrr, what?" he asked, getting very annoyed. "It's ok, don't be embarrassed!" Rukia said, giggling "I think it's cute that you still have it." Brushing past him, she picked up the teddy again. Closing her eyes, she wrapped her hands around it and gave it a long, swaying hug.

Flushing slightly, she then placed it back on the bookshelf. "Hugging teddies is fun!" she remarked, smiling.

Man, Ichigo thought, what the hell's with her?

Time passed along and Rukia's infatuation with Ichigo's old bear still continued. She had taken to having it lie with her inside his closet and naming it Mr. Fluffy.

Then one day it happened.

"Ichigo!" Rukia burst out of the closet, eyes widened. "Argh! We've just come back from fighting a hollow!" Ichigo grumbled.

"No! It's just...Mr. Fluffy's gone!" Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Well you have been carrying it around practically everywhere."

"I need to find him!" Rukia cried. "See you later!" she cried, jumping out the window. "Now why couldn't she just hug me?" Ichigo turned to glance at Kon, who was cursing and hissing. "Well…I don't really blame her for not wanting to."

Later that night, Ichigo sat up half-asleep in his bed. "Hhhhh, what the hell…" he mumbled, sleepily, rubbing his eyes. He glanced at the shut closet door. A faint sound could be heard from inside. Scratching his head, he slid out of bed and stumbled over to the closet. "Hey Rukia." He whispered, knocking gently. The sound immediately stopped.

Blinking, Ichigo slid open the door. Rukia, propped against the board, hugged her knees. "What's wrong?" Ichigo whispered "There were noises comin' from in here and its freakin' 3:00 am!" Rukia gazed up at him, annoyed

"I didn't find Mr. Fluffy." She sniveled.

"Ah" Ichigo rolled his eyes "So you didn't find the bear, get over it." Rukia glared, something glistening out of her eye. "Are you crying?" Ichigo asked, never before had he seen Rukia cry.

"No I'm not!" Rukia said quickly, wiping her cheek. Ichigo sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Fine if you want a damn hug that badly." Ichigo broke off into grumbles. Rukia felt him hoist her gently out the closet and the next thing she knew she was wrapped against an extremely warm, muscular chest. Relaxing, she eased her arms around his lower back and closed her eyes. As they stood there Ichigo began to feel very drowsy.

It seemed that Rukia had fallen asleep against him. He carried her back to the closet and pulled the blanket over her. As he crawled back into his bed, he smiled.

He… liked it better that Mr. Fluffy was gone….


	2. Mingling

An: Well, here's the second chapter to Mr. Fluffy!

Just a friendly reminder that this is simply an expansion to the story and does not need to be read since the previous chapter contained the original ending, so for those of you who liked the story as it was there isn't an _absolute_ need to read this for the story to be completed!

For the rest of ya'll, hope you enjoy it and please review and tell me what you think!

Chapter 2-Mingling

Ichigo huffed, irritably, resting his cheek on his knuckles. He had been in a pensive mood since first period, when he should have been concentrating. Not that he had ever been particularly sociable, but on his better days he would at least exchange several gruff and moody sentences between his friends. But now he was fully switched off to the outside world, actually wondering how his current train of thought bothered him so. It all started just before 1st period started….

_He had strode in, bag slung over his shoulder, usual gruff expression in place. A loud, coy squeal caused him to glance to the left of him. _

"_OH!" Rukia's deep blue eyes widened in sincere joy and surprise "You…. You found him, Keigo-san!"_

_Keigo grinned toothily, holding up the dangling cream-coloured teddy-bear "It was nothing Rukia-chan! I know how much he means to you!" _

_Behind Rukia Ichigo watched the whole scene play out, a sudden blankness overcame him as he gazed at the seemingly endless stretch of soft, cream-coloured fluff._

"_Oh-Rukia-chan!" Keigo cried in fake embarrassment as Rukia threw her arms around him and hugged him gratefully. Giving Ichigo a shifty grin he slowly, slyly wrapped his arms around her lower back, pulling her closer to him. _

_The sudden blankness snapped, and Ichigo turned his back to them, something a little stronger than annoyance in his expression hidden immediately._

He had been in a quiet mood ever since, thoughtful.

School had just ended now and his fist, which had been pressed against his cheek since first period, had yet to move.

Why the hell did it bother him anyway?

It wasn't as though she liked him… or he liked her…

If she wanted to hug Keigo (or anyone for that matter) it was her business, it wasn't any of his damn concern…

She had the bear back now to hug, so why was he still bothered?...

Ichigo shook his head, he was **not** bothered.

"Ichigo!" Keigo stood next to his desk, looking extremely happy. "What?" he said, indifferently, picking up his bag and gathering his things.

Keigo, of course, was used to this attitude from Ichigo and simply slapped him on the shoulder "I'm feelin' really lucky today!" he jabbed his finger in the direction of Rukia, who was walking airily out of the classroom to walk home her route

"Kuchiki-san sure was happy that I _found_ her teddy for her!" Keigo said, flashing Ichigo a sneaky grin and giving him a knowing wink before walking off. Ichigo, who hadn't looked at Rukia once during school-time, grunted at him and walked out.

That DAMN Keigo! So he had stolen the bear from Rukia!

He walked along slowly home. He wasn't bothered, not at all.

"Damnit, what's wrong with me?" Ichigo thought, expression hardening "Hell, she just hugged me once, and I'm acting like this…"

Since that morning she had not confronted him _once_ about the hug they shared the previous night, and he liked it that way…

Ichigo quickened his pace, deciding not to give the matter any more thought. His mind; however; unfortunately decided to pursue the matter in that the moment he walked through the doorway, he realized that it _wasn't_ Keigo whom he was pissed at…

(Page break)

Ichigo shot a glare at the innocent-looking Mr. Fluffy lying comfortably against Rukia's chest while she drew, with her free hand tucked around him.

"ICHIGO! THE CLOSET DOOR IS JAMMED!" Kon's voice, muffled but still loud as hell, could be heard from inside.

"Shut up Kon." Ichigo said, gruffly to him, not looking up.

"You know" he said tonelessly to her, glancing at the teddy-bear again "You'd better not get too attached to that thing, yer just gonna have to give it back someday!"

"I knew it!" Rukia said, folding her arms "You've been acting strange all day!"

"What are you talkin' about?" Ichigo mumbled, flipping the page of his comic rather forcefully.

"It's alright, I know. I'm sorry Ichigo" Ichigo looked up at her, surprised.

Rukia stood in front of his bed, holding out the old bear. "Ano..ano" Ichigo spluttered.

_No way, she couldn't…_

"I'm sure you want Mr. Fluffy back" she said "I've been carrying it everywhere and I've hardly let YOU have it-" _Maybe not… _"-so I won't carry it everywhere anymore and I'll only hug him occasionally! That okay?"

"Fine, whatever" Ichigo said, looking away and folding his arms "You can hug whomever you damn well want, I.. ..don't care." Hurt would have been evident in his eyes had they not been closed. _So that was it, huh? She would only be needing hugs from his old teddy-bear…_

He was wrong.

Ichigo opened his eyes in surprise when he felt Rukia's arms slide around his neck as she kneeled on the bed and pressed herself to him, Mr. Fluffy lying on his side at her heels.

"Rukia." He said, softly; questiongly, as she drew back from him and opened her eyes.

"I'm sorry" she said, quietly "You _did_ _say _you didn't care whomever I hugged, so…"

Ichigo looked down on her, brown eyes widened slightly "But you have Mr. Fluffy to hug and Keigo" he added in a bitter tone.

"ICHIGOO-IT'S FREAKIN STUFFY IN HERE!"

"Shut UP, Kon!" Ichigo yelled at the closet door.

"It isn't the same" Rukia scratched her cheek and looked to the side, blushing pink "I…like hugging _you _Ichigo." That sentence made Ichigo tinge a light red.

He mumbled something looking down.

"What?" Rukia asked, wondering if she heard wrong.

"I-I like hugging you too." Ichigo's expression was unreadable, hidden by his orange strands

"You know Rukia, if you…wanted a hug, all you had to do was ask."

"ICHIGOOOO, I WON'T EVER LEND YOU MY SOUUL!"

"SHUT UP KON!" Ichigo yelled, kicking the door of the closet with one capable leg.

He felt a strange sense of Déjà vu when he hoisted her onto the bed and gently wrapped his strong arms around her, while she eased her arms around his neck and nestled against his ever-warm chest. But it was the feeling that was familiar.

_Yea, I'll get used to this._

**Owari**


End file.
